Research shows that bioluminescence has evolved many more times among marine fishes, and likely throughout the entire tree of life, than previously thought. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, scientists from the American Museum of Natural History, St. Cloud State University, and the University of Kansas reveal that bioluminescence evolved 27 times in marine ray-finned fishes.

Sing along with our favorite animals that glow: the anglerfish, Bermuda fireworms, and a blue-ringed octopus!

Seventeen-year-old Ryan wanted to understand whether the popular insect repellant DEET, worn by many tourists to ward off mosquitoes, had any effect on the dinoflagellates in bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico. His investigation, outlined in the essay The Effects of DEET on the Bioluminescent Dinoflagellate, Pyrocystis fusiformis, earned Ryan a Young Naturalist Award in 2011.

American Museum of Natural History scientists dove deep to investigate creatures that illuminate the ocean, and to better understand how and why they transform light. In The Fish, Museum scientists collect and analyze hundreds of species to find out how many fish groups are biofluorescent and how they might use light to communicate.

Make your own land and ocean creatures that generate light. These step-by-step instructions and PDF printouts help student create land and sea creatures that glow.

Scientists have shown for the first time that deep-sea fishes that use bioluminescence for communication are diversifying into different species faster than other glowing fishes that use light for camouflage.

In January 2014, a team of researchers led by scientists from the American Museum of Natural History released the first report of widespread biofluorescence in the tree of life of fishes, identifying more than 180 species that glow in a wide range of colors and patterns.

Researchers with the Museum recently made the first observation of biofluorescence in a wild sea turtle—one which glowed in bright neon hues when viewed under a blue light.

In September 2013, John Sparks, curator in the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Ichthyology, led a research team on a pioneering set of dives along the dazzling coral reef walls of the Pacific Ocean’s Solomon Islands. Before the Solomons expedition, nobody knew how common biofluorescence was in marine life. Find out what they found the deeper they dove.

Have you ever captured a glowing firefly? On a warm summer evening, a firefly’s light seems rare and magical. Yet the tree of life is spangled with organisms that blink, glow, flash, and glitter. Welcome to the world of bioluminescence—the generation of light by living things.

Every species of flashing firefly has its own pattern. See if you can recognize—and then mimic—a unique flash pattern. 

A firefly's light seems rare and magical. Yet there are many living things that blink, glow, flash, and glitter. Bioluminescent organisms range from sharks to mushrooms. They emit light from different body parts, in an array of colors, and for a variety of purposes. They may glow to attract mates, hunt, or defend themselves.

Museum scientists John Sparks and David Gruber have traveled the world in search of bioluminescent and biofluorescent organisms. Here, Sparks and Gruber answer a few questions about animals that glow.

Increasingly, marine researchers are finding that there are far more jellies and jellyfish in the world's oceans than previously believed. Indeed, these creatures may play an unexpectedly large role in ocean ecosystems. This video, which features spectacular underwater footage, follows scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute as they retrieve jellies from the deep.

Many kinds of octopus, cuttlefish, and squid are masters of disguise, concealing themselves using chromatophores—specialized skin cells that hold pigment and reflect light. Scientists tested the responses of the two cephalopods to light sources similar to the bioluminescence of deep-sea predators, and observed that they shifted quickly from transparent to opaque in response to this particular spectrum of light. This is an important example of camouflage strategy in the ocean depths.